[_nickwhite]

This is sort-of an existing feature since Windows 10. You can download the latest Windows 10 (or 11) media creation tool and create a USB. Click Setup.exe, and even if it's the same build of Windows, you can reinstall it, keeping all existing apps and data. This will effectively reinstall the existing OS, even fixing horribly broken installs (given the user profile isn't also corrupt). I did it a few weeks ago & helped a student to get through finals.

[spondylosaurus]

:eyes: Did it actually keep all existing apps? I ask because I've seen a similar feature in the past that said it would keep apps after a fresh install, but only apps downloaded through the Microsoft Store. Which for me works out to... one, maybe two total. It'd be great to do a fresh install without removing all the others!

[_nickwhite]

I believe it does not touch HKLM\SOFTWARE or HKCU\SOFTWARE. But the machine I fixed a couple weeks ago had all the apps from the windows store & third party apps working fine. :shrug: I use macos & debian for my daily drivers.

[gregmac]

How does this work with apps?

Many spew entries all over the registry (adding stuff to startup, context menus, special icons, etc), and it seems like those entries are also often responsible for the issues in the first place. Keeping those across a clean install seems counterproductive.

Likewise, installing the latest version of all the random apps is probably going to help more than hurt, and that's just as likely the actual thing that "reinstalling windows" fixes. If it retains older versions you lose that benefit.

All of this is ultimately bad software. If software can get a different state by installing fresh than it does going through the upgrade process, it is broken. (This includes the OS.) Too many vendors just don't care though, or have figured out it's more profitable to make their users do a reinstall than actually make their software not suck. This applies equally to the OS as it does to every app.

For like 99% of apps it's not even that hard to do it right, it just takes a tiny bit of knowledge, effort and caring.

[olyjohn]

When I did desktop management at a college, we would use SCCM to do this way back with Windows 7. We would routinely re-image machines remotely and keep the users profile on the machine. Mostly all using features that were actually built into Windows.

[ikekkdcjkfke]

It also copies over the drivers folder for both options